Improvement in cotton-ties



ATEN'I OFFICE.

ilVlPROVElVI ENT IN COTTON-Tl ES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 59,293, dated October 30, 1866.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, MARCUS A. TARLETON, ot' the city of New Orleans, pa-rish of Orleans, and State of Louisiana, have invented a new and useful Improvement in `Wrought Iron Buckles or Tics, for fastening the ends of iron hoops or bands on bales of cotton, hay, wool, moss, or other like commodity 5 and I do hereby declare the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification in which- Figure l is a perspective View of my invention, Fig. 2, a side view, and Fig. 3 a perspective top view of the same when attached to a hoop.

My invention consists of a wrought-iron buckle, or tie, to use the technical name usually given to contrivauces of similar character, so constructed that the tongue is a part of the plate of metal of which it is made, and rigidly tixed in a certain position with respect to the plane of the outer or convex surface'of the tie.

To enable others skilled in the art to which my invention appertains to make and use it, I proceed to describe its construction and operation.

vThe tie A, Fig. 1is of wrought-iron, and when hoop-iron of the width of one inch is used in connection with it, it should be in size about two inches square. Itis cut out of sheetiron by au instrument or tool especially made for the purpose.

The thickness of the sheet-iron used inv its fabrication is to be determined by the width of the hoop-iron to be associated with it.- In other words, the gage of the sheet-iron may I be from No. 10 to No. 15, accordingly as hoopiron of the width ot' one inch or of more than one inch is to be employed.

After it is cut out the tie is bent or curved into the form of an arc of a circle, as is shown plainly at Figs. l and 2. ln the center of the tie is an opening, B. lf it be designed to use hoop-iron having a width of one inch in connection with the tie, this opening should be about one-eighth of an inch wider, so as to admit of a facile and rapid introduction ot the end of the hoop therein, as well as the easy slipping of the hoop iu it in the operation of banding the bale. When hoop-iron is Aused that is wider or narrower than one inch, the

opening should be enlarged or reduced, so as to preserve the same or very nearly the same proportions, as above stated. rlhe extreme length of the opening B should be about the same as the width thereof.

rJhe tongue G, which is a part of the metallic plate of which the tie is constructed, and therefore unhinged and inflexible, extends longitudinally across the opening about twothirds the distance thereof, as is very clearly represented at Fig. l on the drawings. The tongue C is not curved with the plate, but is left straight, its axis being the same as before the bending of the plate, and hence its point projects above the superior or convex surface of the tie, as is shown at Fig. 2. My object in having the tongue project in this manner is to facilitate its introduction into and its withdrawal from the slots or holes D in the hoop'in the operation of banding or hooping a bale of cotton or other substance, or of shortening the hoops when the bale is compressed into smaller dimensions, or of taking off the hoops. It' the axis of the tongue were coincident with the axis of the plate, it would be necessary in passing the hoop through the tie to bend the hoop to an inconvenient degree, whereas by projecting the tongue somewhat above the plane of the curve of the tie there is no need of bending the hoop to'any considerable extent, either in passing it through the tie in the trst place, or afterward in releasing it from its connection with the hoop, with the view of tightening thc same, or of taking it off the bale.

In the practical use of my invention, one

end ot' the hoop is securely attached to the side of the tie toward which the tongue projects by passing it through opening B from the superior or convex side and bending it back upon itselt', as is clearly shown at Fig. 2. In

the other end of the hoop holes D are punched around the bale, care being taken to place the concave side of the tie next the bale, and the punched end passed through the tie until the hoop is drawn closely about the bale, when tongue C is inserted into the nearest hole .D, and the connection is at once firmly and securely established.

When released from the mechanical instrumentalities that have been employed to compress it into the form of a bale, the substance operated upon, particularly it' it be Wool or cotton,will exert, by reason of its elastic qualities, a very great expansive force. The effect of this force upon the punched end of the hoop will be to make it take the position seen at a a, Fig. 2, and thus to effectual] y prevent a disconnection of the tie and hoop by any sudden jar or compression to which the bale may be subjected.

If for the purpose of shipment abroad, or for any other reason, it is found desirable or necessary to reduce the size of a bale, all that is requisite is to Withdraw the tongue from the hole into which it has been inserted, to take up the slack of the hoop, and reinsert the tongue into a new hole. This, of course, can only be done after the bale has been reduced by proper mechanical agencies, and while these agencies are still exerting' their power.

Having thus described my invention, some of its advantages and virtues may be thus summed up. It is simple, but yet completely effective for the purposes for which itis devised, as I have demonstrated by actual experiment. It can be manufactured rapidly and with as small an outlay of money as any tie of which sary. The dullest laborer 011 taking it into his hands will at once perceive its mode of operation and apply it properly without instruction. It has no projecting points to catch upon other substances or bales to the damage thereof or of itself. Lastly, it is readily taken off after it has performed its mission upon a particular bale Without being injured in the operation of withdrawing it, and can then be applied to another and another until, after long years of service, it is worn out by long and continued use.

I do not claim wrought-iron ties or buckles as of my invention, broadly, as such, for I am well aware that, differently constructed, such appliances areold, and therefore not patentable; neither do I claim ties or buckles constructed with tongues, as seen in the patent granted T. M. Reilly, December l5, 1863; but

What I do claim as of my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The tie or buckle A, when constructed and operating as herein described, for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination of the tie 0r buckle A with hoo1')iron,\vhen these parts are united tnd operate as described, for the purpose set orth.

MARCUS A. TARLETON. Witnesses:

F. MCG. SWAIN, EMIL HoouRnIN. 

